EVERETT — A state forensic scientist explained Tuesday how blood spattered on Patti Berry’s car and clothing likely tells the story of her final moments more than 19 years ago.
Kristopher Kern, who manages the Washington State Patrol crime scene response team, was the final witness called by Snohomish County prosecutors in the first-degree murder trial of Danny Ross Giles.
An expert on blood stains, crime scene analysis and reconstruction, he talked about the inferences that can be reached from examining evidence gathered after the 1995 killing.
Jurors already have heard how Berry, 26, likely encountered her killer after finishing her shift dancing at a nude nightclub early on July 31, 1995. The left front tire on Berry’s 1985 Honda was leaking. She left the club’s lot looking for an air pump.
Her blood-stained vehicle was left behind a car wash. Her body was dumped in a wooded area south of the Everett Mall.
Kern was asked in April 2013 to review evidence from Berry’s killing to try to deduce more about what befell her. He spent about six weeks working on the assignment. Among other things, he examined Berry’s bloody clothing, crime scene photographs and dozens of reports generated over the years, including findings from the autopsy and DNA testing.
Under questioning by deputy prosecutor Craig Matheson, Kern said there are clues to be found by analyzing the size, shape, location and distribution of blood stains on Berry’s car and clothing.
He began his presentation by calling attention to small spots of blood on the left front bumper of Berry’s car. He then showed jurors photographs of blood drops from the car’s roof and the exterior of the back window. He directed their attention to heavy blood stains on the driver’s seat, and a large pool of blood on the floorboards behind the passenger seat.
Under questioning from Matheson, Kern was careful not to say he knew for certain what happened, but he told jurors it is possible Berry was on her knees outside the car, perhaps preparing to fill the leaky tire, when she was attacked.
He was asked: The small amount of blood found on the car’s exterior suggests that’s where the attack started?
“That is a possibility,” Kern said.
Blood on the car’s exterior likely was cast off by the killer’s knife, he testified.
Stains on the driver’s seat suggest Berry wound up back in the car, bleeding heavily. The killer then likely removed her from the vehicle, tipped the driver’s seat forward, and put her into the backseat, where her blood pooled on the floorboards, jurors were told.
Kern said there is a “strong possibility” that Berry then was driven in her own car to the place where her body was dumped. Her jeans were removed at some point, leaving her nude below the waist.
Her bloody jeans and dance costumes were found draped on brambles near where her car was found.
Jurors already have heard from other forensic experts that Giles’ DNA was found mixed with Berry’s on the steering wheel. The chances of a random match have been calculated at 1 in 580 million.
They’ve also heard that DNA consistent with Giles’ genetic profile was found on the car’s headrest and on the cuffs of Berry’s jeans, among other places.
Linda Coburn, one of Giles’ public defenders, zeroed in on what Kern’s report didn’t address.
Where was mention of DNA testing that concluded Giles could be excluded from the men whose genetic material was found under the fingernails of Berry’s left hand?
How about an explanation for a fast-food drink cup that 1995 photographs show sitting atop the blood, apparently unstained?
Under questioning from Coburn, Kern readily acknowledged it is possible to interpret the evidence differently. He also acknowledged his conclusions were based largely on field work and testing conducted by others over many years. When Berry died, “I was in high school,” he said.
Giles’ defense team called their first witnesses Tuesday afternoon. The jury could get the case by the end of this week.
Scott North: 425-339-3431; north@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @snorthnews.
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